SAN DIEGO — The five-game winning streak is over. The Dodgers came to Petco Park on Monday night and ran into a wall named Michael King, who spent the better part of the evening making Los Angeles look completely lost at the plate. Final score: 1-0, Padres.
This one stings not because of how the Dodgers lost, but because of how close they kept it. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was outstanding. The offense just never gave him anything to work with.
King Was Simply Untouchable
There is no softer way to say it. Michael King struck out nine Dodgers, walked none, and held Los Angeles to five hits across seven innings. The Dodgers went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Every time they had a pulse, King had an answer.
By the fifth inning he already had nine strikeouts and the crowd at Petco was letting him know it. The Dodgers cycled through most of their lineup without doing much damage. Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a walk and was one of the few who looked comfortable, but even he could not find a way to push a run across. Betts was caught stealing in the first and Ohtani was gunned down trying to take second in the fourth, snuffing out two separate rallies before they had a chance to develop.
The sixth gave Los Angeles its best shot. Andy Pages singled to open the inning. Teoscar Hernandez immediately grounded into a double play and took the air right out of it. Kim singled, Ohtani singled, and a throwing error by Padres catcher Rodolfo Durán had Kim 90 feet from tying the game with the top of the order due up. Then Betts popped out to end the threat. That was as close as the Dodgers would get.
Yamamoto Deserved Better
Yoshinobu Yamamoto went seven innings, gave up three hits, struck out eight, and allowed just one run. On most nights that is a winning performance. Tonight it was not enough.
The only run he allowed came in the first inning when Miguel Andujar got a hold of one and put it into the left-center bleachers. One swing, one run, and that turned out to be the entire ballgame. Yamamoto settled in immediately after that and kept the Padres off the board through the seventh, but his offense could not bail him out. He takes the loss and falls to 3-4 on the year, which feels genuinely unfair given how he pitched tonight.
A Frustrating Finish
Mason Miller came on in the ninth with a one-run lead to close it out for San Diego. Freddie Freeman walked and Alex Call came in to run for him. Tucker walked. Suddenly the tying run was on second with one out and Petco got very loud. Will Smith flew out. Max Muncy struck out. Andy Pages grounded out to strand them both. Ballgame.
The Dodgers were shutout for just the second time this season and the five-game winning streak they carried out of the Freeway Series is gone. The series continues Tuesday night.
Up Next
Los Angeles and San Diego meet again Tuesday at Petco Park. Emmet Sheehan takes the ball for the Dodgers against Griffin Canning for San Diego. First pitch is set for 6:40 PM PST.
